Pretty things.
I’m in the middle of prelims and also a rather prolonged fever but I thought I’d check in before November ended.
Plus now I can stare at this pretty flower and the stripey fly I saw in Argentina. I don’t know what kind of fly it is but it’s very striking. Looks like it’s a nectar feeder. VanEngelsdorp and Mexner recently estimated the global value of insect pollination at US$ 212 billion, or about 10% of the global value of agricultural production (2010). There, I even included an insect fact.
Shh, only pretty flower-flies now.
*edit* Thanks kindly to Morgan Jackson and Joel Kits in the comments for identifying this as a bee fly (Bombyliidae) in the genus Poecilognathus. Bee flies are really really cool little flies whose young generally parasitize other insects.
6legs2many 
Cool fly! I passed it along to a bee fly expert (Joel Kits) who confirmed it’s a bee fly (Bombyliidae) and probably in the genus Poecilognathus.
Oh, wow, thanks. That’s actually pretty cool; I wouldn’t have guessed. And hurray for the internet solving bug mysteries!
This photograph is sensational! Amazing how you can get so much detail and I love the interesting facts associated with it. Kudos. Excellent blog posting.